Kerala Women’s Commission chairperson M.C. Josephine has said that there are many complaints in the district about the practice of men remarrying without divorcing their first wives.
Speaking to reporters after a mega adalat of the commission here on Wednesday, Ms. Josephine said the commission got complaints about women, after being married off at the age of 18 years, being deserted by their husbands who went on to marry again.
Commission member Shahida Kamal said the panel got complaints from seven women who were deserted by their husbands.
Jewellery taken away
The commission chairperson said there were cases of men deserting their wives after taking away their jewellery and money. In such cases, men did not divorce and provided no maintenance. In one of the seven cases, the complainant said she was married off when she was 18.
Her parents gave her ₹1 lakh in cash and 360 g of gold jewellery worth ₹12 lakh. But during her 12 years of marriage, her husband had sold the gold and spent the money, according to her complaint. The complainant, mother of two small children, was now deserted by the husband who is living in the Gulf region with his new wife.
Ms. Josephine said that though the Family Court had ordered the man to pay the woman and children ₹4,000 every month as maintenance, he had refused to pay and then defamed her. The commission has asked the police to book the man for defaming her.